Perfect Season
by Ria D'Arcy
Summary: Winter was the perfect season for everything, from hot chocolate to curling up in blankets with your loved one. But the only thing it wasn't perfect for was assassinating people. The blanket of snow that always fell in this season made moving about difficult, and there was always a trail of footprints left behind.
1. Chapter 1

_A/N: Written for my friend **Razorblade Mistress **as an early Christmas gift. I do not own the character Illumi but everything else came from my brain, and I now give ownership of this story to Razor. Please enjoy reading ^^_

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Winter was the perfect season for everything, from hot chocolate to curling up in blankets with your loved one. But the only thing it wasn't perfect for was assassinating people. The blanket of snow that always fell in this season made moving about difficult, and there was always a trail of footprints left behind.

But the assassin didn't care if she left behind footprints. She stood stoically on the roof of the tallest hotel in York Shin city, staring unemotionally at the man who was slowly dying in front of her.

No, the assassin didn't care if she left a trace of her existence in the snow… what she really hated was the snow itself. It covered everything and turned the landscape a pure, brilliant white. And when the white canvas slowly turned red with fresh blood, she would stand transfixed.

On the snow covered roof there was now a lifeless body of a man in his late twenties, crumpled and bleeding. The assassin stood on the raised edge of the roof, not even flinching as the bitter wind picked up; powdery snow was thrown in every direction, and her black hair was whipped about.

Tsutae was an assassin who had been trained since she was young to imitate those of the main branch of the Zoldyck family. She was praised for her talents and was always being pushed to one day become a well-known assassin just like them and to bring her family's name into the spotlight of the underground world. But Tsutae didn't care about that, fame and fortune was something that held no interest for her. She simply did what she had been trained to do – _kill the target without being caught or killed_.

Standing like a statue as the bitter wind whipped her shoulder length hair about; Tsutae did not make a move until she was positive her target was dead. Only then did she step from the ledge and walk in her heeled boots to the corpse. The sun was sinking, and with it the temperature. Tsutae's shadow lengthened in front of her as she took her time to close the distance. She wore nothing more than a tight fitting black tank top, which left little to the imagination but still concealed so much, and a pair of boot cut jeans that were no longer in fashion. The length from her wrists to her elbows, on both arms, was covered in tight fitting material that was also used to hide several containers of various poisons. Strapped to the small of her back were also two sheathed blades, though they were not something Tsutae would normally draw.

Making no sound in the built up snow, Tsutae stopped beside the corpse and used the toe of her boot to nudge the body onto his back. His brown eyes were still open, glazed and staring at something Tsutae could not even begin to comprehend. She nudged the body a little more until she was satisfied he was truly dead.

The female assassin was just about to turn away when out of sheer luck a sparkle caught her eye. Bending down to look closer at the neck of the body, Tsutae found something shocking. Prying it out with her numb fingers, she held up a long thin needle in the swiftly darkening twilight.

Tsutae almost never used a weapon to kill her targets, and certainly never a needle. Her specialty lay in the use of poisons; every poison known could be manipulated with ease by the female assassin.

Who then, had used such a weapon?

Straightening up, Tsutae looked around. Being on the roof of the tallest building left little places to hide, and even those places would not conceal a person for long. Her green eyes searched out every shadow until she finally found him.

The second assassin stood taller than Tsutae, even in her heels, and blended into the shadows so well the only thing that could have given him away was the pin used to keep his hair up. Long black hair, large black eyes, and an all-black wardrobe… everything about this man screamed "killer".

"You took my kill." Tsutae accused the man. She held up the needle, examining it with a hawk-like gaze. No trace of poison was seen, it most likely had never been coated in anything remotely poisonous. It was just an ordinary pin.

The male assassin had said nothing, nor had he made any indication to move from his position. He just looked at this woman like she was nothing more than a character in a play that he was not especially fond of.

Tsutae twirled the long needle between her fingers, and with practised eased applied a smear of poison (from a skin colored packet attached to the second knuckle of her middle finger) without changing the twirling rhythm. Without even batting an eye she sent the needle on a straight course towards the unknown man's throat.

An inch away from his face the male assassin caught the needle, neither blinking nor flinching. This action, like nothing else about the man, had impressed her. A low whistle sounded from her lips as she took a cautionary step backwards. Distance may not have been Tsutae's forte, but this was not the first time she had been pressed to fight at a disadvantage.

Glaring at the man who just calming looked back; Tsutae flinched marginally as the man's phone rang and he had the audacity to actually answer it. He leaned his back against the wall of the small square cement enclosure that probably covered the stairwell that gave access to the roof.

"Yes." The male assassin stated. His voice did not contain the normal affliction to make the word into the question it should have been.

Tsutae was left to stand, open mouthed, as she watched. Was this guy so self-confident that he could take a phone call at a time like this? Taking the slight to heart, Tsutae drew the short blade from its sheath with her left hand and in the blink of an eye threw with deadly accuracy at her opponent.

As it spun end over end towards its target, she smiled. It was not a gloating smile, but a cruel smile that was filled with the knowledge that thrown at someone less skilled than her the blade would bury itself deeply into the heart of anyone.

However, once more this man showed he was not just some common hit man. He sidestepped the blade so that it buried itself not in his heart, but in the concrete of where his heart had been. With a curse under her breath, Tsutae decided to draw her second blade and rush the man.

In the seconds it took for Tsutae to take her first step the male assassin had already escaped from her line of sight. A breath later she felt the air behind her stir in an unnatural way as he stood directly behind her, holding a pin tilted at such an angle that if provoked would make its way through the skin behind her ear and directly through a pressure point and into her brain, killing her instantly. She felt as his long hair swirled in the air, brushing at her arms and telling her exactly how close he now stood to her.

Forcing aside her urge to swallow, Tsutae focused on trying to formulate on a way out of this. Only to become distracted by both sides of the phone conversation she could now hear.

"_-sent you the next files."_ A deep male voice finished.

"Understood." The male assassin replied.

"_Look through them by tonight and send back all the ones which are underqualified for your skills. I expect positive results Illumi."_

The name caught Tsutae's attention. It was a name she had heard all her life, yet the face was one she had not seen in nearly twenty years. Her elder cousin from the main house.

Slowly so as not to pose a threat, Tsutae turned her head away from the poised needle to look from the corner of her eye at her fully grown cousin. She now saw him in a new light. This assassin was suddenly not some stranger who had stolen her kill. He was a relative who had shown her up, again, just like he had been doing for the whole of her existence.

"Kage-kun." The old nickname slipped off Tsutae's tongue and she saw as the other tilted his head, peering closer at her face before lowering the needle and taking a step back.

Standing for a time in utter silence, it was Tsutae who broke first.

"It's been a long time cousin." She said in a voice laced with verbal poison. In response, Illumi blinked his large black eyes. "You always were a man of few words."

Pacing a few steps back towards the body she stared down at the man, wishing she could take out all the anger and inferiority she felt towards her cousin on the corpse. But she would never show such outbursts in front of him.

Taking a deep breath Tsutae turned back to look at her cousin, who was no longer there. He had vanished like a shadow in the dark. Tilting her head back she looked up at the fully black sky and watched as the moon rose. It wasn't much longer before small flakes of white floated down and across her line of sight. Snow began to settle a top the already snow covered roof as Tsutae made her silent way towards the ledge, leaving behind a distinctive trail of footprints.

Winter really was the perfect season for everything but assassinations.

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Grasping the ledge of the second floor window Tsutae hosted herself up and onto the jutting concrete of the mansion which was set back nearly a mile from the road. Her breath huffed out in small white clouds as she sat there for a moment before quietly lifting the pane of glass and making her way inside unnoticed.

The room was carpeted, reducing the amount of noise as her feet landed just inside. The room was dark, illuminated only by the pale moonlight through the window. Tsutae reached behind her to grasp the handles of her blades and pulled them from their sheaths. Without breaking her gaze from the door on the far side of the room Tsutae pulled the drawer of the near bedside table slowly open and set the blades inside. Only then did she straighten from her crouch and move swiftly to open the door of her bedroom.

The hour was late, much too late. Cringing as the clocks throughout the house chimed out bitterly, Tsutae made her way down the dark hallway and towards her mother's bedroom. Composing herself just outside her mother's door, as well as running a hand through her black shoulder length hair, Tsutae took a breath and knocked twice on the wooden door.

"Enter." Tsutae's mother's voice promptly ordered. Not hesitating for the second she felt she desperately needed, Tsutae opened the door but did not cross the threshold.

The room was exotic. Every surface was covered in silk tapestries of rich colors. Small glass lamps were spread throughout the room and a thin haze of smoke seemed to hang in the air. Reclining on an elaborate couch was a woman with an intangible beauty, dressed in a deep blue kimono and smoking a pipe. Her sleek black hair was hanging over the couch arm as she stared intensely at her eldest child.

"You're late."

"My apologies mother, there had been a complication." Tsutae responded, remaining where she was in the doorway. Her mother had never been one to take bad news well, especially when the bad news was all due because of the main branch family; her elder brother and his children.

"What _kind_ of complication? And come closer." Tsutae's mother glared at her daughter who could do nothing but obey without a word.

Mentally bracing herself for her mother's reaction, Tsutae straightened her back as she stopped in the middle of the room and in a toneless voice stated,

"Illumi Zoldyck was also hired."

"_WHAT?!_" Her mother's voice rose in a pitch that was similar to what Tsutae remembered her Aunt Kikyo's to sound like whenever she was enraged. It sometimes made Tsutae question who her mother was really related too, surely Uncle Silva's sister could not share so many commonalities with his wife.

Faster than Tsutae could dodge, her mother was in front of her, striking her across the cheek with a force strong enough to cause Tsutae to stumble. Pain spasmed down her body as her mother struck her again, this time across the back. Coughing up spit from the impact, Tsutae braced herself while knowing her mother wouldn't stop with just this.

Scrunching her eyes so they stayed tightly shut, Tsutae waited. When the third strike never came, she carefully pried one eye open to see her mother wasn't even looking at her. Instead her mother's head was angled to the left. Tsutae followed her mother's line of sight to see her twin brother, Hakka, standing serenely in the shadows. His arms were crossed over his chest and his facial features were set in the same blank mask as that of their cousin Illumi.

Black rage filled Tsutae but she held back from lashing out. Hakka was mother's favourite, even though he was second born.

"Hakka-kun, why are you standing there like that? Come see mamma." She held out her hand to beckon her only son forward. As Hakka stepped from the shadows the lamplight showed his pale hair, it was almost like silver.

Tsutae bite down hard on her lower lip as she straightened and stepped back, allowing her brother ample room to stand next to their mother.

Stepping past Tsutae, Hakka smirked sideways at her, knowing full well who was favoured over whom. Tsutae's gaze slide to the floor and the richly colored rugs that covered the cold cement, she bit her lip harder in an effort to keep her black aura from seeping into the air.

"Hello mamma." He said sweetly while kissing her cheek, his mask breaking in favour of a smile that reeked of spoiled brat stench.

"Tsutae you can go now. We will discuss this again later." Their mother did not even look at her daughter once as Tsutae was dismissed. She was so absorbed in staring into the light blue eyes of Tsutae's younger brother who had always shown such potential in the assassin arts.

"As you wish mother." Tsutae kept her voice as neutral as possible and calculated the steps it took to make it back to the door. Shutting it behind her, she never looked back even once.

I hate seeing mother and Hakka together, Tsutae thought with venom.

Walking with a measured pace from that god forsaken room, she never stopped until she reached the west wing of the mansion. This wing was a completely different design from the east wing, for the east wing housed the normal rooms and necessities every house must contain; bedrooms, a kitchen, bathrooms, a library, study, recreation room, indoor swimming pool and sauna. The west wing was the training wing. The three floors were all open layouts, and made entirely out of stone. Its entire design was based off the main house's design. The mansion on Kukuroo Mountain was made completely of stone, while the branch family's mansion had to uphold the pretext of appearing normal.

Tsutae continued walking through the first floor, aiming for the stone staircase that would take her to the second floor. The first floor was completely empty, and was used for training in close combat and sparring sessions. The second floor was the unofficial "shooting range" because targets had been attached all throughout the room (walls, ceiling, and floor) for practice with all manner of long-range weapons. The third floor housed the poisons and was where most of Tsutae's and Hakka's early torture resistance training had occurred.

Tsutae's main aim was only the second floor. Once she reached it, Tsutae spared no time in going to the locked steel cabinet that held the various long-range weapons. Anything from ninja stars, to small-light and large-heavy throwing knives, as well as every gun that was both legal and illegal to own. Punching in the nine digit code and pulling the doors open, Tsutae walked inside as the automatic lights flickered into life. She bypassed all the non-automatic weapons, going straight to the back shelf and picking up a pair of small handguns.

In addition, Tsutae pocketed a few extra clips on her way back out. Her intent was to spend at least an hour in shooting practice, pretending that in actuality she was shooting that arrogant, self-absorbed look off of her brother's face. Afterwards, Tsutae would retreat to her bedroom to mix up fresh mixes of some of her favourite poisons. It would be extra practice, a time to restock what was needed, and also a calming hobby for Tsutae who had always found solace in the quiet assassin art.

Standing in the exact middle of the large room, Tsutae inhaled a deep breath. Her eyes closed of their own accord as she began to temp down her rage so it would not interfere with her focus. When nothing would hinder her movements, not even her thoughts or emotions, Tsutae opened her green eyes and began firing.

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_A/N: Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed the story. Feel free to leave a review or pm me with your thoughts on the piece. Feedback is always appreciated ^^_


	2. Chapter 2

_A/N: Because I got a couple of requests (from **Razorblade Mistress **and **XxJigoku-no-HanaxX**) for a continuation, I present to you Chapter 2! (Since I'm too lazy to actually come up with a name for it.) Forewarning goes here that this is not a "happy" chapter - she's a Zoldyck, none of their lives are happy. However, I hope you enjoy. _

_And btw, I did a little rewrite on C1 because as I reread it I noticed I suddenly went from 3rd person POV to 1st person POV (I'm not even sure how). _

_Disclaimer: I don't own the name "Zoldyck" but all the characters belong to Razor since this is still her story, and I will now shut up so you can read ^^_

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Sitting on the tiles of the mansion's roof, Tsutae curled her legs up to her chest and rested her chin a top them. She had changed out of her jeans into a pair of navy colored pajama pants, though she still wore the same black tank top. Tsutae's hair was wet from the bath she had taken and it dripped cold water down her back to soak her shirt. The bitter winter wind picked up and the powdery snow flew in every direction.

Tsutae closed her eyes as a draft blew some into her eyes, but she didn't move. She had been sitting out there for over an hour, doing nothing of importance. Tsutae opened her green eyes and looked down at her toes, which were bare, and tapped them to see how much feeling still remained in them.

Totally numb, just like how the rest of Tsutae's body felt. The numbness was not because of the cold though. Before she had finished her shooting practice, her mother had found her again. Tsutae flinched as she remembered her mother's face as she threw open the large double doors that guarded the stairway from the rest of the second floor. The doors had been a part of the original design, though they were generally kept open. If you were not fast enough to react to a stray projectile, you were not worthy of claiming the name Zoldyck.

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"_Tsutae!" Her mother shouted just as the doors banged against the stone walls, bringing an abrupt silence as the gunshots paused. Tsutae raised herself from the floor, where she had previously just finished a shoulder roll. Replacing the safeties on the guns, Tsutae approached her mother while every muscle protested._

"_Yes mother?" Tsutae asked when she stopped five feet from the obviously furious woman. Her mother's pipe had remained behind in her haste to track down her daughter once she had finished doting on her beloved son, who had inherited the famed silver hair of the Zoldyck heir. Regardless that the main branch had already produced a suitable heir, Vanessa Zoldyck was determined to see her son succeed the family line._

_Closing the distance Vanessa struck her daughter across the face with an open palm, the force powerful enough to leave a red mark but nothing more. _

"_How could you let Illumi finish a target that was your right?!" Without waiting for an answer Tsutae felt her mother's aura become darker and resigned herself to whatever punishment Vanessa was set on meeting out._

_Without a word spoken between the two women (for something like this was only too common an occurrence in Tsutae's life) they made their way to the third floor. Tsutae mentally braced herself as she stood like a statue on the once clean stones. After years of abuse, the stones were flecked with dried blood patches and Tsutae could tell you __**exactly**__ whose blood it was. Much of it belonged to her._

_Of course it did, why would her perfect little brother who was 'oh so much better' than her need the extended hours of torture training Tsutae herself had to endure? _

_As Vanessa moved closer to the wall where thick chains hung down from the ceiling, Tsutae shed her shirt. The inevitable wounds Tsutae was about to receive would be easier to clean if there were not bits of fabric inside them. Tsutae was a self-taught medical expert, but even she was powerless to completely clean wounds made in the center of her back. And Tsutae would make it to Hell and back before she asked her brother for his assistance again._

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_**Tears pricked the corners of the young girl's eyes as she witnessed the true state of her now bloody back. For the past three hours Tsutae's mother had tortured her daughter with different methods, her favourite being the whip as was apparent by the three or four dozen diagonal cuts which were the deepest injuries. They cut not only into her skin, but were intersecting so the wound appeared to be only one single injury as opposed to multiple.**_

_**The only five year old Tsutae fortified her mind as she held in her left hand a bottle of rubbing alcohol. She breathed out through her clenched teeth before holding the remaining little breath in. Without wasting another second, Tsutae poured the entire bottle's contents down her back.**_

_**Her jaw tightened more as the little girl prevented herself from screaming as the alcohol did its work and slowly seeped into every wound, cleaning it. Tsutae's left hand, which was clutching the bathroom counter, tightened until the skin was a pure, sickly white.**_

_**Black swam in front of Tsutae's vision as she refused to close her eyes to the pain and stared stoically at her reflection.**_

_**Taking in slow, shallow breaths as the pain began to fade, Tsutae was now left with a decision. Should she wrap her wounds? Or leave them exposed as she slept?**_

_**Thinking the better course was the tightly wrap them, Tsutae reached for the sports bandages she had already prepared on the counter. With a little wincing, she managed to grab one and position the end against the middle of her small chest. However, when she began to twist her body so she could wrap the wounds, the pain finally became too much for her young body to bear.**_

_**With a muffled whimper, Tsutae's knees gave out and with nothing to support her she collapsed to the floor. Tsutae's legs were tucked beneath her body as she hunched over, feeling the pull of the skin on her back and silently let the tears fall as more pain racked her.**_

_**She repeatedly clenched and unclenched her fists as the tears fell and her sobbing became louder. The louder she sobbed, the more pain spasmed down her back, which lead to more pain and more sobbing. It was a never ending cycle for Tsutae. Pain seemed to be her only companion.**_

"_**Tae-chan?" Tsutae's eyes open and she tried to stop sobbing as she saw her, also five year old, brother walk into the large bathroom. He rubbed absently at his blue eyes, and gave off a yawn too. Tsutae's sobs must have woken them up. They shared the large bedroom, as it was their mother's way of trying to force them to become closer. If they could not work in synchronization, they were not allowed to call themselves Zoldycks.**_

"_**Ha-ha-hakk…" Tsutae tried to say but broke down sobbing once more as the pain returned to the forefront of her mind.**_

"_**Geez…" Hakka sighed as he saw his elder sister blubbering like a baby. He was disgusted to think that someone so weak was not only his blood relation, but that she was supposed to be **__**older**__** than him too. Why couldn't she take the pain like him? Was it because she was a girl? Hakka didn't know the answer, but if she kept on crying like this he would never be able to get back to sleep.**_

_**So taking it upon himself, Hakka made his way towards the sobbing mess and reached down to grab the bandages. **_

"_**Sit up, will ya." He ordered and brushed his sister's hair in front of her shoulders so the strand wouldn't interfere with what he was doing. **_

_**Tsutae rubbed at her eyes and straightened her back, trying not to squirm at the fresh pain. More salty tears made their way down her already red and swollen cheeks as Hakka began to wrap her torso for her. Tsutae held her hands on her head as her brother made sure the bandages wouldn't come loose.**_

_**Once he was finished, and Tsutae had calmed down a little, the boy stood up and walked back to his bed. Some of the heat had left his sheets while he was attending to his sister, but Hakka climbed in anyways and promptly curled up on his right side and fell into a dreamless sleep.**_

_**Tsutae was slower, because she took it upon herself to make sure the bathroom was clean before she sought her bed. If her mother, or any of the maids, saw the rubbing alcohol on the floor Tsutae would be punished. A Zoldyck was not to show weakness or pain no matter the degree, to show the enemy anything other than confidence and skill was an insult to the family name. Since the time of their first breath to their last, a Zoldyck was supposed to be strong and unmovable. They were a world-known family. Even if Tsutae was only the daughter of a branch family, she was still a Zoldyck. Nothing less was expected of her than to train and kill.**_

_**Once Tsutae was finished her grueling task in the bathroom, she turned off the light and padded on silent feet to her bed. However, she did not notice in the faint predawn light that her brother had already made his exit. He had gone to see their mother before breakfast, knowing she would only punish him too if he did not tell her about his sister's disgraceful act late last night.**_

_**She was a Zoldyck and Zoldyck's were not supposed to cry. Hakka never cried. At least, not where anyone could see him cry. The boy had long shut down his emotions. His soul wept, but he was too blocked off from himself to even know it.**_

* * *

_The final crack of the whip brought Tsutae out of her head. Her body was facing the wall, her arms chained so the stretched above her head but her feet were planted firmly to the floor. Her legs were holding up her entire weight as her mother constantly whipped her._

_It wasn't until time extended and Tsutae did not hear the tell-tale signs of her mother preparing to hit her again that she pulled her arms free of the chains and walked back towards her shirt, which was still discarded on the blood-flecked stone floor. Where the twenty-three year old had previously been standing was surrounded in fresh, slick bloodstains – which would be left to dry and add their rusty-brown flakes to the history of Tsutae's life._

_Vanessa had already exited the third floor room without a word and made her way back to her beloved silk tapestry covered room. Her eldest son Hakka had already retired to his own quarters for the night and on the morrow he would be off to fulfill a contract himself, leaving Vanessa to her own devices in his absence. _

_Tsutae made her way to the en suite bathroom of her own room. Turning on the taps of the shower, she allowed the steam to permeate the air before she disrobed completely and allowed the hot water the rinse the blood from her back. Tsutae watched with a half-hooded gaze as the pinkish water swirled around and disappeared down the drain. The longer she stood there, the less sting from her wounds she felt and eventually, her entire body was simply left numb. However, that numbness would not last once she left the shower. But Tsutae was already prepared. _

_Within a hidden compartment of the bathroom vanity, was a dozen small paper packets which contained a powder Tsutae had discovered how to make long ago. It was a numbing agent that still allowed her to be clear of mind, and without side effects. It was simply to help her deal with the wounds and abuse her mother inflicted on her body whenever she was home._

_Turning off the shower and forsaking a towel, since it would only get bloody and leave fibers in the open wounds, Tsutae opened the hidden compartment and swallowed dry two packets. The effects would last for twelve hours, since her body was fast building up a tolerance Tsutae needed to consume more and more if she wanted to last for the full time limit of the drug. And one day, Tsutae feared, the drug would be completely ineffective on her body._

_Tsutae pulled on her navy blue pajama bottoms once she deemed herself dry enough and painfully replaced her shirt. She would have preferred not to wear a top for the time being, but going to sleep immediately was not an option. Her wounds were too fresh and Tsutae could only sleep comfortably on her back. Even if the medicine numbed her pain, the wounds still need to scab over before she could sleep. So for now, Tsutae was left to stay awake._

_Stepping with silent feet, Tsutae made her way to her bedroom window and opened it. With some effort, as the medicine was slow to kick in, Tsutae forced her way onto the roof and there she sat amidst the snow and watched the stars._

* * *

With a sigh, now knowing that she had been up here long enough for the drugs to kick in and the constant pulling on her top allowed her back to begin scabbing over without fusing to the fabric, Tsutae stood up and made her way towards the edge so she could swing herself back down and through her open bedroom window.

She still would not be able to sleep for the next few hours, but if she remained out here any longer Tsutae's hair was likely to freeze solid.

Tsutae really disliked this season. Winter was the perfect season… to curse. For Tsutae, nothing good ever came of winter.

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_A/N: A flashback within a flashback, that's a new one. I've never tried doing something like that but I hope you liked it. Reviews and feedback are always appreciated and I will say this: I do not plan to continue this story (again). _


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